WIREDGOV

Graduate and post-graduate level apprenticeships will soon be available in subjects including law, accountancy and advanced engineering, Skills Minister Matthew Hancock announced recently.

From next year, changes to the Specification of Apprentices Standards for England (SASE) will mean that level six and seven apprenticeships – equivalent to bachelors and masters degree level – are available for the first time, making vocational learning an attractive alternative to the traditional higher education route.

There are already a number of these top-level schemes in development, including in accountancy, law and human resources. BPP Law School is looking to develop a Legal Apprenticeship pathway which could be an alternative route to the legal profession and qualification as a solicitor. It is in discussion with the relevant regulatory body and sector skills council, Skills for Justice, to progress its proposals.

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock said:

In the past, apprenticeships were restricted to only some trades, and some parts of the economy.

Now we are introducing apprenticeships in all types of jobs, including a new route to the professions, to ensure everyone can reach their potential.

These new apprenticeships will help more young people to receive on-the-job training at top companies like BPP Law School, ensuring a vocational route to success in accounting, insurance, and the law.

Director of BPP Professional Apprenticeships James Hammill said:

We are committed to improving social mobility and diversity in the work place by opening up some of the most prestigious professions and employers to school leavers as an alternative to the traditional route. Apprenticeships are an excellent way for employers to recruit talent early and design a structured training programme that incorporates technical learning as well as invaluable work based skills.

Notes to editors

1. BPP Law School is based in eight UK cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Swindon.

2. The government’s economic policy objective is to achieve ‘strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries’. It set four ambitions in the ‘Plan for Growth’ (PDF 1.7MB), published at Budget 2011:
   • To create the most competitive tax system in the G20
   • To make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business
   • To encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy
   • To create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.
3. Work is underway across government to achieve these ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which the government wants the economy to travel.